Activities such as picnics, banquets, house parties, sporting events and car trips commonly involve the consumption of food. Some foods are best served cold and may in fact spoil if their temperature is not maintained at an adequate level. For example, foods such as potato salad and salad dressing may be subject to food spoilage after exposure for some amount of time to ambient temperatures. A cooler can be used to keep such food cold during transport to the location at which the food is to be served. However, once removed from the cooler the food may sit for an extended period of time before being consumed thus reducing the freshness of the food and increasing the probability of spoilage.
Arrangements are known for keeping food cold while awaiting consumption. One such arrangement involves providing a tray with an open top that includes ice cubes located in the body of the tray. Containers of food are pushed a desired distance into the ice cubes so that the containers are both held in place and cooled. The container can be removed from the ice cubes and food can be dispensed therefrom. Subsequently, the container can be reinserted into the ice cubes for the next user. Although such an arrangement works well in keeping food cool it is problematic in that ice melting on the surface of the container can cause the user's hand to become wet when the container is picked up to remove food contained within. Further, the appearance of such cooling arrangements becomes unattractive over time as the ice begins to melt and the containers of food become partially immersed in water.
An alternative arrangement of keeping food cool at functions involves placing the food in a tray that is in turn packed in ice. A user can remove food from the tray though the use of a utensil such as a spoon or ladle. The food is cooled through contact with the tray which is in turn kept cold by contact with the ice. An arrangement of this sort is effective at keeping the food cold but may suffer from problems similar to those discussed regarding the previous arrangement. In particular, over time the ice begins to melt which causes the tray to rest in a combination of water and ice. Aside from being less attractive, the tray may move when a user removes food therefrom as the tray is now floating on top of water. Such movement decreases the ease at which food is able to be removed from the tray. Additionally, the tray may be pushed down into the water when a user removes food from the tray thus making removal of the food feel awkward.
Containers for holding food that have compartments into which ice may be located are known. Although such containers provide a means for keeping food cold, they feature only a single area for holding food. As such, multiple types of food cannot be held in containers of this sort without being mixed with one another. Additionally, such containers are not arranged in a manner that maximizes heat transfer from the food into the ice. As such, there remains room for variation and improvement within the art.